FRIENDS and family packed St Catherine’s Church in Burbage to say goodbye to Pam Dawson.

Pam, known affectionately as Mother Dawson, died on September 10, at the age of 55, following a short illness.

Mourners paid tribute to her during a 45-minute ceremony, where there wasn’t a spare seat or dry eye.

Pam’s coffin arrived in a horse-drawn hearse with motor hearses following to carry floral tributes.

The service began with the hymn All Things Bright and Beautiful before close friends Adrian Bennett and Alec Scott read emotional – and often funny – tributes to Pam. A poem was read by Joanne Galloway before the Rev David Jennings told mourners that Pam would always be by their side, in whatever they did.

The congregation then heard Elvis Presley’s Have I Told You Lately That I Love You, and the hymn Give Me Joy In My Heart. Friends and family left the church to Simply Red’s You Make Me Feel Brand New.

They then went to the Heart of England Crematorium at Nuneaton before attending the wake at Hinckley United’s Marston’s Stadium.

Pam spent nearly 20 years working at B&Q in Hinckley. During her life she earned a reputation as someone who was generous with her time, and on occasion with her home.

Daughters Louisa and Andrea both recall that if anyone wanted someone to talk to or be with, Pam would be there.

Pam was paralysed after contracting an infection in March. Her husband Frank and family started fundraising to convert their home in Rannoch Close. Despite Pam’s death they are keen to continue raising cash to provide facilities for people with physical disabilities.